This Is England

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This Is England

Theatrical Poster
Directed by Shane Meadows
Produced by Mark Herbert
Written by Shane Meadows
Starring Thomas Turgoose
Joseph Gilgun
Andrew Shim
Vicky McClure
Stephen Graham
Jo Hartley
Chanel Cresswell
Rosamund Hanson[1]
Music by Ludovico Einaudi
Cinematography Gonzalo Fernández Berridi
Editing by Chris Wyatt
Release date(s) 27 April 2007
Running time 100 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £1.5 million (estimated)
IMDb profile
For the song by The Clash, see This Is England (song).

This Is England is a 2006 film written and directed by Shane Meadows, director of other films such as Dead Man's Shoes and A Room for Romeo Brass, and starring Thomas Turgoose. The film is a drama centred on young skinheads, set in England in July 1983.

The film was shown at various international film festivals, including London, and special permission was granted to Meniscus for it to be shown at Grimsby's Whitgift Film Theatre. The film was given an 18 certificate by the BBFC due to its racist language and incidence of violence. However, some councils such as Bristol, Camden and Westminster have chosen to overturn this, feeling the film should more widely reach its target audience of teenagers.

Thomas Turgoose took the leading role and has appeared on TV and radio shows such as Soccer A.M., South Bank Show and GMTV, and has been interviewed by Edith Bowman on her BBC Radio One slot.[2] Turgoose had never acted before, had been banned from his school play for bad behaviour, and demanded £5 to turn up for the film's auditions.[3] The film was dedicated to Turgoose's mother, Sharon, who died of cancer on 29 December 2005; she never got to see the film, although she saw a short preview.

Much of the film was shot in predominantly residential areas of Nottingham, including St Ann's, Lenton and The Meadows amongst others, with one section involving some abandoned houses being filmed at the former airbase RAF Newton just outside of Bingham, Nottinghamshire. The opening fight sequence was filmed in a secondary school on the Derbyshire border[4] Additional scenes were filmed in Grimsby, Turgoose's home town.

Contents

[edit] Themes

The film highlights the fact that the skinhead subculture, which is partly based on elements of black culture (especially ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul music), eventually became adopted by white nationalist groups such as the National Front. The story focuses on young Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who, after suffering bullying at school and having to deal with the death of his father in the Falklands War, falls in with a group of older skinheads. When National Front member Combo (Stephen Graham) returns from prison and asserts his leadership, the group splits into two factions: non-racist skinheads and white power skinheads. What follows is an often-disturbing view of 1980s England featuring the ramifications of the Falklands War and the rise of white nationalism, all portrayed through the eyes of a boy forced to face the frightening realities of adulthood before his time.

[edit] Critical reception

The film received very positive reviews from critics. As of 5 January 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 82 reviews.[5] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 86 out of 100, based on 23 reviews — indicating "universal acclaim".[6] The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[7]

The film won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards. It also won the Best Film category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards, with Thomas Turgoose winning the Most Promising Newcomer award.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ This Is England | Reviews | Guardian Unlimited Film
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Humber | Teenager Tommo lands gritty role
  3. ^ Thomas Turgoose: the 13 year old cheeky chappy goes from Grimsby to the big screen | YOU Magazine
  4. ^ BBC News report 12 September 2005
  5. ^ This Is England - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  6. ^ This Is England (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
  7. ^ Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.

[edit] External links